Carter's (CRI) Competitors

Carter's (NYSE:CRI) and Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ:COLM) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, media sentiment, valuation and institutional ownership.

Which has more risk and volatility, CRI or COLM?

Carter's has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Columbia Sportswear has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CRI or COLM more profitable?

Columbia Sportswear has a net margin of 6.59% compared to Carter's' net margin of 4.79%. Carter's' return on equity of 20.68% beat Columbia Sportswear's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carter's	4.79%	20.68%	7.29%
Columbia Sportswear	6.59%	12.97%	7.93%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CRI or COLM?

Columbia Sportswear has higher revenue and earnings than Carter's. Carter's is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Columbia Sportswear, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carter's	$2.84B	0.39	$185.51M	$3.77	8.02
Columbia Sportswear	$3.37B	0.86	$223.27M	$3.92	13.52

Do analysts rate CRI or COLM?

Carter's presently has a consensus target price of $30.25, suggesting a potential upside of 0.10%. Columbia Sportswear has a consensus target price of $60.80, suggesting a potential upside of 14.68%. Given Columbia Sportswear's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Columbia Sportswear is more favorable than Carter's.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carter's	4 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.33
Columbia Sportswear	3 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.78

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of CRI or COLM?

47.8% of Columbia Sportswear shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Carter's shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 48.3% of Columbia Sportswear shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is CRI or COLM a better dividend stock?

Carter's pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Columbia Sportswear pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Carter's pays out 26.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Columbia Sportswear pays out 30.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Carter's is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor CRI or COLM?

In the previous week, Columbia Sportswear had 1 more articles in the media than Carter's. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Columbia Sportswear and 5 mentions for Carter's. Carter's' average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat Columbia Sportswear's score of 0.50 indicating that Carter's is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Carter's	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Columbia Sportswear	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Columbia Sportswear beats Carter's on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.